Today's Report: 

I think the riders had a good day off yesterday.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the change in routine although we still saw lots of people walking in 'pace lines' on their way to dinner or to do some shopping.  Tom wasn't in such a hurry to get there as some of the other riders and by the time he got there he thought his new name was "On your left." 

Days off are filled with a lot of different activities: washing clothes, bike shop shopping, reading, tubing, sightseeing, or just relaxing by the motel pool.  The staff even got a couple hours to relax after prepping the vans and shopping for SAG food.  Barb did the books and I tidied up the website and did some bike shop shopping myself.  I even took time to get a professional bike fit before the new rider orientation.  By mid afternoon, we held registration, bike assembly, and orientation for our 6 new riders we picked up for this leg.  From the looks of this group, they are ready to ride.  They sure picked a tough section to do, but I'm sure they will do fine.

I've been having power issues the last couple of years and have been having problems with shooting pain down the back of my leg.  Sometimes the discomfort just settles in my glute but where ever it manifests itself, my pedaling has definitely been affected.  Over the years I've tweaked my position and I wanted to get a pro to look at how I was positioned and address the issues I was having.  I was amazed at how much he moved me around on the bike...all well within what I thought was appropriate, but well away from where I've settled in as of late.  I took it easy today as anytime you move to a new position you are using different muscles, but I was highly impressed with my power input and how I felt afterwards.  After I got back to the motel, I put the tape measure to my bike and found the position he settled me into was within 1 millimeter in all directions of how I was set up when I competed in the past...I found that to be very interesting...why had I changed in the first place.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but as of right now, I feel great.

Today's ride was one of the easiest we've had so far...at least it was the shortest in distance, but it was also mostly downhill and we had great tailwinds too.  Since the route was a mere 52 miles, we decided to load the luggage later than normal (8:00) and ate breakfast before loading.  We pretty much swamped the kitchen staff when all 50 some of our hungry bikers showed up in the food line all at once.  But they seemed to be on top of the tidal wave and they hustled to keep the feed bins filled with eggs, pancakes, various meats, and beverages.  In spite of all the challenges, we were off in good form and on our way for our second leg of our journey...destination: Casper WY.

As we left Boise, we picked up a bike path (above right and left) and rode adjacent to a game reserve and the Boise River, which made the departure very enjoyable in spite of a few bumpy portions before getting on the interstate.  I think everyone enjoyed our stay in Boise...it's a "bike friendly" town with cyclists everywhere...They also have one of the best bike shops I've seen since we've left the east coast...Georges.  Georges also really like it when we show up in Boise.  It's a block from the motel and they have lots of stuff...well, they have less now.

As I said before, we rode on the interstate a bit today.  This usually means that we'll have more flat tires than normal...today was no exception. We had a smooth, clean shoulder on the interstate until shortly after a rest area, at which time it turned to rough chip and seal and was littered with the ubiquitous pieces of wire and tire bits.  Mark, the mechanic of the day, spent most of the late morning driving back and forth on the interstate fixing flats.  His hands are pretty sore right now, but he'll live.  We don't have too many days on interstates on this ride, but anytime we ride on them, we have more flats than we need.  Our record in one day is 135 with 7 more motel flats in the evening...that was an interesting day.  We ran out of tubes and bought every tube in Gunnison before we left the next morning.  We weren't near that number today, but my hands are pretty sore from all the ones we changed.

We had one other ride stopper maintenance issue today, but it's fixed now.  Big Bill was leaving town and some of the bumps on the bike path helped him shear off his seat post binder bolt.  When that happens, the seat pretty much drops down to the frame.  To rectify the problem, he rode back into town standing all the way to the bike shop and waited for it to open.  He was about an hour behind the group, but he was still able to get it fixed and catch back up to the group before they got to Mt Home. 

After everyone got in and just before dinner, Mark offered a discussion on riding in groups and pace lines.  It was well attended and good info was shared.  Riding in groups, especially on a ride like this, is always a little more risky than riding solo, so it's nice when everyone can be riding to the same sheet of music so to speak.

The last items of the day were RAP and mechanics.  After RAP today, a member of the Mt Home Historical Society came by to talk to us about the history of Mt Home and the area surrounding.  It was interesting to hear how the town got it's name and how it grew from a stage coach way station to what it is today.  Thanks Nancy for taking the time to come talk to us...it was much appreciated.

Since it was such a short day, the pool at the motel was a hit.  Most of the riders were lounging around getting some much needed rest for the upcoming days.  This leg we have some of the shortest days on the trip...two days in the 30s for mileage.  But we also have a couple of the toughest we've had so far into Twin Falls, Blackfoot, and Jackson...Dubois isn't an easy day either.  The riders are getting much stronger and they are pretty much rested after yesterday and today...bring it on tomorrow.  Tomorrow we pedal to Twin Falls.  It's about 97 miles and it's going to be a pretty toasty day...well into the 90s.  We'll be scrambling I'm sure to keep everyone full of water and out of trouble...but that's why we get paid the big bucks.  Tune in and see how we do.  See you then.

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